


Now I Am Become Chaos

by Invoked_Ophiuchus



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21993040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invoked_Ophiuchus/pseuds/Invoked_Ophiuchus
Summary: The lives of the two Singularities have burned too bright. Their very existence now threatens the balance of the skies. The Grand Order will slay them both or die trying.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Now I Am Become Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to Grand Order HL on repeat and then I wrote this.

Legends spoke of a young girl born from the prayers of the skydwellers, a transcendent being beyond the creations of the Astrals. The Grand Order, she was called. From the dawn of life, she had soared through the skies, clad in her silver armor and accompanied with her legion of dragons, striking down all who dared disturb the balance of the world. An arbitrator, a defender and a sentient weapon capable of matching the almighty Creator himself.

Different legends sang of her solitude. She was a hero, dilligent, magnificent, yet the loneliest of them all. She who swore to protect the world was barred from truly interacting with it. Never would she experience the joys and sorrows of living an ordinary, healthy mortal life. It was an unfortunate truth the Grand Order had made peace with long ago. ~~  
~~~~~~

…no, that was incorrect.

There was now a distortion in her carefully recorded memories. An occurence that made her lapse in her duty, but to reasons of which completely eluded her. In her thoughts, she envisaged a haze of incomprehensible sounds and sensations. A bright blue sky, beneath it were blurred figures smiling at her on a grassy green field. The ghosts of a gentle touch brushed against her battle-scarred palms.

Recalling these memories befuddled her to no end. Why would she be on the ground, except to deal with a new threat? Why would she be walking around a mortal town with mortals in tow? Why would she be fighting with the intent to hold back, thus limiting her options?

The girl in the blue and the wyrm in red. Who were they, truly? Their presence unsettled her. Her inability to recall who they exactly were even more so.

If she focused enough, she recalled two more. Two wonderful names, dancing on the tip of her tongue, maddeningly out of reach. The belonged to skydwellers who were mighty, compassionate and beloved by many, included her. Whenever she thought of them, a strange warmth flitted across her chest. They started with…with…

"...!"  
  
Someone was here. Someone had managed to sneak up behind her atop this cosmic plane. Withdrawing herself from her thoughts, she drew her Cosmic Sword and spun around, guard up. Her eyes widnened at the sight of the intruders.

It was her next targets. Singularities. Chaos Bringers. Those who were destined to disrupt the world's peace and cause great upheaval upon it. She had intended to seek them out, but they somehow had brought the fight to her, instead.

The first Singularity was a boy clad in night black, crimson strings trailing from his neck and shoulders towards a malevolent shadow at his back. Upon his face was a smirk frozen in a stiff rictus. Wherever he stepped, a murky pool of liquid formed.

The second Singularity was a girl sheathed in divine blue, the will of a conqueror surrounding her. She looked just as home on the battlefield as she would on a throne. Unlike her companion, she gazed dispassionately at the Grand Order. The glowing images of ten ethereal weapons hovered behind her, a walking armory.

The deeds of these two Singularities had long since been transmitted to her. Over the past few years, the duo had blazed through the skies aboard their skyship. Disruption followed swiftly in their wake. Mountains upon mountains of monster and mortal corpses. Fields, forests and quarries in all skydoms stripped clean of resources and then forged into tools of war. A swirling mass of charisma and opportunity soaring through the lower skies, attracting the powerful, the knowledgeable and the merciless alike.

There had been primal beasts who dared fight against them, of course. Guardians of islands, eleven artificial beings determined to create a new world, disciples of the four primachs and even a fragment of the almighty Creator himself. Their wars raged for days, weeks and even months, but all of them had been eventually toppled.

The Grand Order gnashed her teeth at the memories. Though she was an atypical primal, it still stung to see her fellow primal beasts cut down.

"So, you have arrived, Singularities!" She shouted. "Whether your actions are considered good or evil matters not. Your lives have burned too bright and damaged the balance of this world. I will now carry out my duty and extinguish you from it!"

She met the Singularities with a glare that normally would crumble the wills of the fiercest of hearts. Her weapons crackled with a brilliant azure energy. A whirlwind whipped around her, rousing her dragon companions to her side.

In response to this display, the male Singularity tilted his head sideways and his grin widened at the corners. The girl watched in silence, idling tapping the hilt of the sword sheathed to her hip. The duo then looked at each other and nodded in unison.

How peculiar. The duo looked composed. Calm. Mildly satisfied and certainly not intimidated. As if they predicted the Grand Order would react the way she did.

"You think yourselves capable of destroying me? Such arrogance!" Many had faced her with confidence before, only for it to be shattered by toverwhelming might of the cosmos. The Grand Order was not one to gloat over her victories, yet the lack of respect the two Singularities showed rubbed her the wrong way.

Enough was enough. She could ponder about their unusual behavior later. It was time for action.

"You will perish and return to the void of the sky and stars!" The Grand Order roared. The mana radiating from her exploded in a torrent, streaking her surroundings with whites and blues. Her dragon legion screeched and howled as the stars quaked.

"By my sword, a mirror reflecting the azure sky, I shall sever the sorrow of all creation! Prepare to face the judgement for your hubris, Singularities!"

The Singularities smiled in unison and drew their own swords. They lunged forward and clashed their weapons against the Grand Order's own. Such was the force of the clash, so mighty and abuzz with mana, that it tore a rift across the sky.

* * *

The denizens of the sky looked to the heavens. Amid the twinkling stars and the pale half moon, they witnessed a meteor streak downwards, burning in a majestic fiery trail. If one were to calculate its trajectory, they would deduce it landing within a certain island covered in deserted battlegrounds from the old war against the Astrals. A place infamous for its tri-monthly hunts, where skyfarers clashed against awakening primal beasts for the sake of glory and treasure. At this time of the year, the island was deserted.

None would witness the sight of the Grand Order crashing headfirst into the center of the island.

The impact alone sent devastating shockwaves through the battlegrounds. Worn battlements crumbled, cracks spread across the earth and the resonance of the sleeping primals was thrown into disarray. The Grand Order did not stop there; the sheer force of her impact sent her tumbling through mountain and forest until she came to rest beneath a crumbling castle.

Pain wracked every nerve in her body. Her skin was coated in soot, dried blood and mana residue. She dimly sensed the formerly hibernating primal beasts rising up and striking at each other, maddened by their forced awakening. Total chaos would soon engulf the island. The Grand Order could not care; her mind was only filled with replays of the fight.

The first act, where she had duelled them alone. A twisted waltz of humming light, flaring mana and shrieking metal. Dodge, block, slash and repeat ad inifinitum into a stalemate seemingly without end. Then, she let down her guard for a fraction of a second and the boy had kicked her in the knee. She stumbled, looked up and a girl in a blue stoood by her side. The Grand Order had been powerless to stop Proto Bahamut's summoning and barely had time to shield herself against the blast of power from the dragon's gaping maw.

Seeing her distress, her dragon legions had swooped into the fray. They had rammed into the Singularities in the hundreds, spat fire at them, slashed with their claws. A swing of their blades and the Singularities lopped off their heads, split open their chests, and it rained blood and carrion across the cosmic battlefield.

She remembered screaming with rage. Her vision coated with blood-red. She had drawn her second blade and transformed into her golden form. Its radiance symbolized the hopes and dreams of those residing in the skies. Fragile, innocent wishes of those who only wanted to see the next sunrise. Her magic had been beyond the six elements and would pierce all defenses. Her last resort, the grand finale before her decisive victory.

The Singularities should not have been able to withstand her upgraded Gamma Ray head-on. They should not have possessed the strength to drive their weapons into her mount, rip Its lifeblood from its neck and send it tumbling to the bottom of the skies. They should not have had the strength to shatter her sword and shield and drag her to her knees.

And yet they did anyway.

No matter what the Grand Order threw at them, the Singularities simply countered in return. Once again, it was if they had anticipated it all in advance. Techniques, tactics, spells, affinities…they had read her like an open book.

The remaining of her strength drained. Wetness gathered in the corners of her eyes. For the first time, she had lost. It was an unforgiveable sin. Who else could protect the skies? Who else could keep the fragile balance from spiralling out of control?

Ah, there had been another being like her, hadn't there? An entity born from the despairing wishes of primal beasts, her antithesis. Where she had preserved a world of mortals, he had desired a world fit for primals alone.Where had that child gone? What would he say if he could see her now, or had the Singularities caught up to him long ago?

She had gazed into his soul once and seen a cold, crushing weight within it. How fitting that the same weight would now reside in her own heart.

Two figures approached in the darkness. Her opponents had come to finish the job. ~~.~~ The Grand Order had so many questions, but as the Singularities stared down at her prone form, their previous viciousness gone, all she could mouth was 'Why?'

Why did they disturb the balance of the world? Why had they sown so much destruction across her primal brethren? For what purpose did they seek their strength?

Just…why?

Instead, the boy lifted her up by the hair until they were eye-to-eye. He smirked once more, then plunged his hand straight through her chest. Blood burst from the wound. The Grand Order choked and gagged and the boy paid no heed while he dug deep into her chest, ripped out her primal core and flung her body aside into the dirt.

The girl Singularity snapped her fingers. A dagger, emblazoned with emeralds representing the four corners of the world, coated in an aura reeking of bloodshed, fell into her other palm. Down into the primal core it went. A harsh crack rang through the night air.

The effects were immediate. Pain exploded into the Grand Order's chest. Her heart strained against its ribcage. She twisted her head to the side and saw her right side fading into nothingness.

Dying. Death. It had finally come to her, after she had dealt it for so long. It was different than she expected. No burning frustration, no valiant last stand, it was naught but a cold, empty finality. She supposed her previous opponents had felt the same way while staring down the tip of her sword.

Footsteps climbing out of the crater. With the last of her strength, she craned her neck upwards. The Singularities were raising their hands towards her damaged core, coalescing the white wisps leaking out. They molded the fragments of creation into new forms.

A silver orb with traces of light and darkness within. A deep blue feather reminiscent of the Grand Order's beloved mounts. Several a spike-ridden crystalline structure that radiated with her essence of arbitration. They gazed at these treasures like a mother would at a newborn child, not looking once back at their fallen opponent.

So callous, so neglectful. So erratic. She would've called them like the Astrals, but the Astrals would at least have seen her as life, albeit a wasteful one. The Singularities had saw her an amusing obstacle to be overcome, then a prize to be dismantled and tossed aside once the fun was over. They had recognized themselves as her superior from the very beginning, and they had been right.

Perhaps the Singularities were simply not from her realm of existence. 

If that were true, then she had never stood a chance.

Her head slumped backwards. Darkness encroached towards the center of her vision. The battered, broken primal girl, once known as the Grand Order, wept one last time for the sanctity of the world and surrendered herself to the swallowing void.

* * *

"Zooey! Zooey! Wake up, Zooey!"  
  
Her eyes snapped open. She lurnched forward as her mouth gasped for air. Her right hand flailed around for her sword as her surroundings spun around in a torrent of mismatching colors. She needed to find the threat, eliminate it and restore balance to--

"Zooey! It's me, Gran! Calm down, Zooey," said a strong voice. A familiar voice, belonging to a young man with ruffled short brown hair and a blue hoodie. It was Gran.

Yes. Gran and Djeeta, the two captains of the Grandcypher crew. They were at her bedside, each with a hand on her shoulders. Her pet dragons Dyrn and Lyrn flitted in the air around her. Their shrill chirps voiced their distress for their master.

That's right. Her name was Zooey and she had taken a skydweller's form to investigate the possibility of Akasha being unsealed. Along the way, she had encountered the two Singularities and joined their crew. Together, they had adventured across the skies and shared many precious memories together. It conflicted with her duty as the arbiter of the skies, yet she was proud to have experienced it all the same.

She recalled having lain in her room aboard the Grandcypher the previous night. Primal beasts were usually given their own space due to their many oddities. Their rarity made the space affordable as well. In Zooey's case, she needed space for Dyrn and Lyrn to rest. She was now sitting upright in her bed, its sheets having been flung across the room. Outside the window, the first rays of dawn were streaking across the horizon.

"Zooey." Gran said, his voice firm and level. "Can you hear me?"  
  
"I…yes, Gran. I hear you." Zooey took the chance to take a few deep breaths. Her panic gradually subsided. Dyrn and Lyrn climbed onto her bed and nuzzled into her. She massaged the backs of their heads and smiled at their cries of happiness.  
  
"I apologize for worrying you both. Was I having a nightmare? It is the only explanation I can think for this disarray." Zooey said.

Djeeta responded. "We were returning from our late mission when we heard some muffled sounds coming from your room. You turned out to be thrashing in your sleep."  
  
"I see…" She craned her head sideways and saw the door dangling off one of its hingers. Gran and Djeeta must have broken in. Not that Zooey minded; she would've sliced the doors clean had their positions been reversed. "I appreciate what you have done. Thank you both."

Gran lifted a jug of water from her bedside table and poured a glass. Zooey accepted it gratefully and drank it in slow, methodical gulps. It tasted like heaven across her parched tongue."How do you feel now? Is your head hurting or feeling dizzy?" Djeeta asked.  
  
"I'm fine, I think." Zooey replied. She gave a quick look up and down her body. "There doesn't seem to be any physical damage."

Gran mouthed a word to which Djeeta nodded in return. The sight seemed strangely familiar. "Say, Zooey, do you remember what your dream was about?" Gran asked, "If it's too uncomfortable, you don't have to say anything."  
  
Zooey furrowed her brow. She had no desire to reach back into that period of unpleasantness, but it was necessary to assess her mental state. The last traces of the nightmare were rapidly fading away from her brain. She closed her eyes and tried to grasp onto them.

An infinite sky. A bloody background. She was the Grand Order again and she was fighting against two mysterious foes. They both had swords and she saw Dyrn, Lyrn and the rest of her dragon flock slashed to pieces. Magic clashed against magic and then gravity pulled her down to the island below. Her life bled out in a crater and her opponents approached, their faces resembling that of…

Of…

~~The two captains.~~

Pain shot through her head. She winced.

"You okay, Zooey?" Gran asked.

Zooey shook her head. She was drawing a blank. The remnants of the nightmare had faded for good.

"I'm sorry, Gran, Djeeta, but I don't remember much of what I dreamt. I don't think it's something to be worried about."

Gran frowned. "If you say so. Wanna take a break for the rest of the day?"  
  
"Oh no, that won't be necessary. I am still in good physical condition." Zooey said. She smiled and reached for her clothes. No point in sleeping now. "I have that monster hunting mission, yes? Rest assured, it will be done."  
  
"Zooey." Djeeta said, firmly and took the primal's hands into her own. Djeeta had wielded a sword for most her life, yet her calloused hands still held a soothing quality to it. "If you need a break, we can allow that. We can give your mission to Vira or someone else. You've already done so much for us and we'd be poor captains if we pushed you beyond your mental limits."

"You've both so very kind, Gran, Djeeta." Zooey muttered. "Goodness, I almost needn't have worried in the first place."

She climbed from her bed and wrapped both her captains in a big hug. The two let a gasp of surprise, before proceeding to bury their heads into her shoulders and embracing her back. Zooey couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as they settled into her warmth. Once again, she affirmed the bond they shared was unbreakable. They may be Singularities, potential enemies for the all-powerful Grand Order, but right now they were the captains she loved with all her heart. They led with decisiveness, demonstrated generosity to the misfortunate and were quick in aiding the weak. She was proud beyond measure to call them her captains.

No matter what paths they traversed, what secrets of the skies they unlocked or what allies they gathered, Zooey was confident enough that neither Gran or Djeeta would even think about perverting the consensus of the world.

_(Later at breakfast, she would wonder why the topic of her duties was raised upon seeing Gran and Djeeta. The only answer she recieved would be a foreign unease settling in her heart.)_

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written or read anything for months but I decided to write this anyway. Please give feedback, I think I really need it.


End file.
